Luck evades Preston Athletic in stalemate

JOHN SNEDDEN

Preston secured another valuable point in their battle to beat the drop but it could easily have been a precious three points had striker Sean Martin scored a second-half penalty.

Both sides struggled to get to grips with the pitch in the first half as the heavy surface made the passing style for both sides difficult with many players also trying hard not to slip. The visitors had the better chances and managed to retain the ball slightly better than the hosts but rarely threatened keeper Ross Gilpin.

Late in the half, a wild lunging challenge by a BSC player on Preston’s Jack McIntyre resulted in a yellow card when it could have easily been red.

Preston started the second period on the front foot and great link-up play between Liam Todd and Jack McIntyre on the right saw Todd release a shot across the face of goal.

Preston continued to press and a back-post header from Sean Martin went close. More great play by Liam Todd on the right set up Chris Cairney to fire just over from a central position.

On 70 minutes, Jack McIntyre again broke down the right and unleashed a shot which went just over.

Martin won his penalty three minutes later as he beat BSC goalkeeper Ian Stewart to the ball, the keeper’s arm catching the striker as he went past. Stewart was just shown yellow and then dusted himself down to save well from Martin’s spot-kick.

The next five minutes summed up the Panners season as luck completely evaded them. They hit the woodwork four times, had an effort cleared off the line while BSC keeper Stewart made a fine point-blank save.

Despite the second-half onslaught Preston failed to make the dominance count and now sit two points above bottom team Threave Rovers.